poems

OAKEE’S BUSY DAY

At nine-o’clock I went to bed
And closed the eyes in my sleepy head.
At twelve-midnight I did wake up,
And took a drink from my favorite cup.
At half-passed-three I woke again –
On the window was the sound of rain.
At five-to-eight I was surprised
To find the sunshine in my eyes.
I meditated, dressed and ate
And ran outside to the garden gate.

Up the road there came a horse
With the farmer’s son, of course,
But just for fun I tried to see
A black knight coming after me.
I ran as fast as I could go,
To get my arrow and my bow,
But as I reached the tree-house door
The black knight knocked me to the floor.
I fought and laughed and screamed HOORAY!
As he, frightened, ran away.

As I laughed and watched him flee
Ten pirates jumped down from the tree.
I quickly grabbed my sword and tried
To keep the treasure safe inside.
That battle lasted half the day.
Throughout the garden, I did play,
Until the lunch bell rang at one
And I had to stop the fun.

At two-o’clock I came back out
And gave a happy Indian shout.
With bow and arrows on my back,
And on my head a feathered hat,
I climbed the rocky hill nearby
To hunt for food and watch birds fly.

As I reached the rocky top
I looked below and got a shock!
A band of angry cowboys stole
Our chief and all the white men’s gold.
My friend the eagle flew me down
And dropped me safely on the ground.
I fought the bad guys, freed the chief,
And snatched the gold from every thief.

They chased me to my teepee home
And hoped to find me all alone,
But all my animal friends were there
And so we gave them quite a scare!
We tied them up, the sheriff came,
And took the cowboys to the train.

Then I saw the train smoke black.
The baddie robots had attacked!
I put my Zorro costume on
And called my horse to rush me on.
When we came, the train had stopped,
So I quickly jumped on top.

First I put the fire out,
Then I helped the people out,
Then I battled with the bandits,
Then the pirates, then the robots.
Then I swung up with the swing
To the slide, and with a sting
Of my sword I slid fast down
And poked the knights, who all fell down.

And as I hugged my animal friends,
Who helped me make this battle end,
I was called in and had to stop,
‘Cause dinner’s served at six-o’clock.

Later, with pajamas on,
I brushed my teeth and sang a song.
Then I read a picture book:
Peter Pan and Captain Hook.
And when the book came to an end
I hugged my animal friends again.
At nine-o’clock I went to bed
And closed the eyes in my sleepy head.

****

****

KIWI TREE

A friendly friend once said to me,
“I once climbed up a kiwi tree.”
“My friendly friend,” I did reply,
“Kiwi’s a bird that cannot fly!”
“I know,” he said, “but there’s a tree
“That also has the name kiwi !”
“Okay,” I said, “If that is so,
“Tell me how it came to grow.”

“Long ago, I don’t know when,
“There lived one kiwi and one wren.
“A wren, you know, has wings to fly,
“But kiwis don’t, although they try.
“So, anyway, that speedy wren
“Set out to help her sleepy friend.”

” ‘Come on,’ she said, ‘I know a place
” ‘Where there is lots of space to race!’ “

“So off they went to a big hill
“Above the forest Twiggywill,
“Where Wren called down to poor Kiwi:”

” ‘Now run and jump and do like me!’ “

“But looking up, Kiwi did see
“The wren fly straight into a tree!
“Believing she must do the same,
“That wingless bird with little brain
“Went hopping wildly down that hill,
“Straight into forest Twiggywill!
“There she landed on a tree,
“And laid an egg, then two, then three.
“And all those eggs rolled down, down, down,
“And sunk right down into the ground.
“There they went into the roots,
“And up above, came out as fruits –
“And to this day in Twiggywill
“Those egg-shaped fruits are growing still!
“In fact, those sour kiwis can
“Be found in almost every land.”

And then, to my surprise, my friend
Took something from his pocket and
He held it to my nose to see …
My gosh! It was a green kiwi!

(But still I really don’t believe
That he climbed up a kiwi tree.)

****

HOW TO HUG A BABY BEAR

Little Johnny Bottlebee
Was rosy, round and full of glee.
So full of merry glee was he,
That all the day he sang tee-hee!Tee-hee, tee-hee, he sang carefree,
And no one ever disagreed.

Now, one fine day
As he was out,
Out and about
To sing and play,
He took a shortcut
Through the woods,
The honey woods
Where bears abound.

And as he danced
Along the trail
He heard a sound,
A long, sad wail.
So Johnny stopped
And cocked his head
To see if he
Could spot the spot
Where that sad cry
Was crying from.

As he stepped
Toward the sound,
A furry face,
All wet and round,
Came poking though
The bushy bush,
And almost pushed
Round Johnny down!

“Why do you cry?”
Asked Johnny to
That soft, brown bear
Who cried boo-hoo.

“I have no one
To hug,” Bear hooed.
And then he booed
And hooed again,
And down his tears
Did rain and rain.

Now Johnny knew
That no one plays
With wild bears,
Not night or day.
But here he was
Now face to face,
In such a bushy,
Woodsy place,
With a bear
Who seemed to need
A playful hug
To cheer him up.

How to hug
A baby bear?
Thought Johnny
Stepping just
A little nearer.
But very much
To his surprise
That bearly jumped
And in a wink,
Without a second
More to think,
Jolly Johnny
And that bear
Were rolling,
Cuddling, giggling there,
Without a thought
Or tear or care!
And after hugging,
Up jumped Bear
And, smiling, ran
Away from there.